Low and Slow temps 225-250 no foil needed, High Heat cook temps 250-350 foil needed to get to tender with out burning the outside.

This, as proven many times in this forum, is unfounded and untrue. This is not opinion but fact. The fact being, in the proper hands (much like ONLY in the proper hands no foil is needed for low and slow cooking) a true Pitmaster will be able to get a great, juicy, product WITHOUT resorting to using foil - Not that there is anything wrong with that.

However, with that I realize that since not all my videos are back "online" there is not proof of this in the video without looking closely.

Incidentally, a deep UMBER Bark is NOT burning - although we do call the traditional Burnt ends, "burnt ends." I liken this thought to those who cover their grills with foil before grilling.

Here is the video, open now only for the brethren, from my old station, PopdaddysBBQ.

At 38 seconds you will see an example of one of those "burned on the outside" briskets. This specific brisket came out of the smoker directly. Please tell me if you think it lacks tenderness? My pork butts (some 4,500 lbs cooked since I started recording for businesses) are deep umber too... no one EVER refereed to them as burned. Briskets, well I have cooked in the realms of enough to measure the weight of a house since about 1984) and there was this one lady, a Jaquie Simmons who when first she saw my brisket she exclaimed "I am not eating that - its burned!" (May 17, 2009). But her hubby literally grabbed off a piece and they then marveled at the taste. They had been used to sliced brisket.

Now there is a caveat.... while the poster used the word
"burned" incorrectly to describe his experience in cooking without foil, I DO wrap these things in either butcher paper or plastic wrap for quite long periods when I cook so much I cannot fit more than 60 pounds at a time in my smoker... these sit while the other's cook, however, as I have mentioned before, the side effect of my tri level rub is that once the product is lain back and unwrapped, the bark (probably due to the salt's affect along with malliard reaction on the meat) SNAPS back somewhat. I have tasted both side by side, and many experts have as well, and there is no "burned" taste. True Burned taste will not be masked by resting.

One more thing.... there is a so called great resturant called Sonny Bryants in Dallas. They literally slice off ALL of the bark and serve sliced brisket sans bark. Most popular dish.... burnt ends sandwich - made from guess what... all that bark.